McConaughey, the youngest of three boys, was born in Uvalde, Texas, the son of Mary Kathleen "Kay" , a substitute school teacher, and James Donald McConaughey, a gas station owner who ran an oil pipe supply business and once played football for the Green Bay Packers. McConaughey has Irish ancestry and had what he describes as a conservative Christian upbringing. McConaughey's mother and late father divorced and re-married each other several times, in what McConaughey describes as a "loving, but unstable relationship". McConaughey moved to Longview, Texas in 1980 and graduated from Longview High School in 1988, where he was voted the "Most Handsome". Matthew lived for a year in Gorokan, NSW, Australia as a Rotary exchange student.

McConaughey began his acting career in 1991, appearing in student films and television commercials in Texas before being cast in Richard Linklater's film Dazed and Confused (1993), after meeting casting director Don Phillips at a bar near the University of Texas at Austin. During this time period, he played the neglective boyfriend in country singer Trisha Yearwood's video "Walkaway Joe". After appearing in some additional small parts in Angels in the Outfield, Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Next Generation, Boys on the Side, and the television series Unsolved Mysteries, McConaughey's big break came as the lawyer "Jake Brigance" in the 1996 film A Time to Kill, based on the John Grisham novel of the same name. In 1997, McConaughey won an MTV Movie Award for best breakthrough performance for the role. He has also twice been nominated for a Blockbuster Entertainment Award. In 1999 he guest starred in the episode The Wedding of Bobby Hill, on King of the Hill.

McConaughey was cast in leading roles in many more movies: Contact, Amistad, The Newton Boys, Edtv, and U-571. By the early 2000s, he was frequently cast in romantic comedies, including The Wedding Planner and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, both of which were successful at the box office. During this period, he appeared as a firefighter in the low-budget film Tiptoes, opposite Rene Russo, in Two For The Money as a protege to Al Pacino's gambling mogul, and in Frailty, cast against type as a serial killer, opposite Bill Paxton.

McConaughey starred in the feature film Sahara (budgeted at $130 million), along with Steve Zahn and Penélope Cruz. Prior to the release of the movie, he promoted it by repeating some trips he took in the late 1990s, including sailing down the Amazon River and trekking to Mali. In 2005, People magazine named him their "Sexiest Man Alive". In 2006, he co-starred with Sarah Jessica Parker in the romantic comedy Failure to Launch, which was reasonably successful at the box office. McConaughey also provided voice work for an ad campaign of the Peace Corps in late 2006. Matthew's production company, j.k. livin, is currently in development on projects with Warner Bros., Universal, Paramount Pictures and Imagine Entertainment and can most recently be seen in the football drama We Are Marshall. He is supposedly in line to star as Thomas Magnum in the 2008 movie Magnum, P.I. In September of 2007, McConaughey was announced to have joined the cast of Ben Stiller's Tropic Thunder, replacing Owen Wilson for the role.

McConaughey is currently represented by CAA Co-Chairman Bryan Lourd.

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On October 24, 1999, McConaughey was arrested at his home in Austin, Texas on charges of possession of marijuana and resisting arrest. The police were responding to a 2:30 a.m. noise disturbance call. According to police reports, McConaughey was dancing around naked and playing bongo drums with a friend, actor Cole Hauser, a co-actor in Dazed and Confused (1993). The drug charges were dropped, but McConaughey pled guilty for violating the city's noise ordinance and paid a USD $50 fine. An avid University of Texas football fan, it was rumoured by UT students that he was celebrating after the ranked Longhorns defeated Nebraska 24-20 on October 23, 1999, after attending that day's game. In a press conference following his release, he was wearing a UT burnt orange jacket while speaking to the media where he flashed the Hook 'em sign before leaving. McConaughey rescued various pets, including cats, dogs and hamsters, that were stranded after the flooding of New Orleans from Hurricane Katrina. In 2006 in Sherman Oaks, California, he rescued a cat from two youths who had doused the animal in hairspray and were attempting to light it on fire.

In addition to his home in Austin, he owns a 1,600-acre (6 km²) ranch in Texas. McConaughey is also a member of Delta Tau Delta Fraternity, a high ranked national Fraternity. During his pledgeship he spoke with an australian accent because he thought it was funny. He is a Washington Redskins and University of Texas at Austin football fan, supports the Houston Astros baseball team, and he enjoys hobbies such as running, surfing, swimming, and biking. In July 2006, some of his real-life foibles were documented on "McConaughey's Lost Weekend", a blog with photographs of a "three-day bender in Costa Rica." McConaughey was named People magazine's “Sexiest Man Alive” for 2005. "Extra, NBC" reported in 2006 that McConaughey admits to wearing no underwear and says he doesn't use cologne or deodorant, because he doesn't want to smell like someone else. He said, "People say I ought to start wearing it." On December 19, 2006, eBay's homepage featured Matthew's picture and named an auction of autographed items he donated to raise money for charity as the "It" of the day. McConaughey is also a die-hard fan of WWE Monday Night RAW, and even claims to have never missed an episode. McConaughey's personal life is the subject of media attention. He has dated actresses Sandra Bullock, Ashley Judd, Salli Richardson, and Penelope Cruz. The two had been together since 2004, following Cruz's break-up with Tom Cruise. He and Cruz separated in April 2006. He is currently dating Brazilian model Camilla Alves. On January 15, 2008, McConaughey announced on his website that he and Camila are expecting a baby, due in late June/early July.